Books: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde (2010)

“15-year-old Jennifer Strange, who is filling in for the missing manager, Mr. Zambini, for an employment agency for magicians called Kazam. There are prophecies that the last dragon will soon die, meaning that the dragon's territory is up for grabs. Trying to find the truth of the matter, she finds the official Dragonslayer and is pushed into becoming his apprentice. The Dragonslayer dies and she becomes the last Dragonslayer, which means that she will be the one who slays the dragon.”

So, apparently, I’ve read this book before -back in 2012, when it was released in hardcover in the US (2010 in the UK). Strangely, I have no memory of it. That’s a new one, because I generally remember all the books I’ve read.

I did enjoy this book, as it’s a quickly paced and fun. Like a lot of Fforde’s work, it is set in an alternative world in where magic is real, but has become weakened and is being replaced by modern technology. Essentially, it’s like modern Britain, except that it is split into a number of small counties. Another aspect of Fforde’s work is to accept the absurd, eccentric ideas put out here. Yes, he has written more for adults than a younger audience, but he really creates a wonderfully weird universe where he can poke fun at our modern world. It’s satire, for sure, with dashes of Monty Python’s droll humor and Douglas Adams’ maddeningly funny look at a genre that is rarely made fun of –but not in any bitter way. It’s just an odd collection of people, places, and Quarkbeasts. While it's very much a derivative of the Harry Potter franchise, this is less mean.

Jennifer Strange is an engaging character and it was nice to see that no one goes out of their way to make it a big deal that there is a girl at the center of a prophecy. Maybe rare in 2010, but still, I need to point this out. A lot.

I think part of the problem-and why I forgot I read this 11 years ago- is the book does take way too long to really get going. It’s got a huge cast and Fforde spends a lot of time introducing them. The fact that most don’t actually play into the action of the last quarter of the book can spook people –and maybe it did that to me in 2012. I mean, yes, this is a trademark of Fforde’s other work, but in a book primarily marketed to 12 to 15 years old young adults, it can stop them in their tracks.   

The Last Dragonslayer started out as a trilogy, and was followed by The Song of the Quarkbeast (published in 2011), and The Eye of Zoltar (published in 2013). However, somewhere along the writing of book three, Fforde realized there was more of the story to tell, but eight years would pass before he finally finished the series with The Great Troll War (published in 2021).

Which is why I'm not going to read them all.